A Friendship Cake Of Sorts
by PhunkyBrewster
Summary: There is one sure way to get back into Mindy Lahiri's good graces. My contribution to the Operation: Tonic Water Dandy fluff challenge.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with The Mindy Project.**

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_Today is going to be so much better than yesterday_, Mindy thought to herself at her desk with a determined grin as she made the necessary annotations to the file in front of her. She adjusted her glasses so that they rested higher on the bridge of her nose and scribbled an order onto her stationary before placing it in the file with a sense of forced satisfaction. She made a mental note to have Betsy make copies before her first appointment and Beverly send a copy of the updated file to the hospital.

"There I go, being an _incredible_ doctor again!" she exclaimed to the empty office. "It's a shame nobody is here to bask in all of my _efficiency_ and _competence_." She was glad nobody was around to hear the bitter quality of her tone; it was best to get it out now before she had to interact with anyone professionally. While she hadn't planned on allowing the previous day's anger to spill over into the new day, there was no mistaking the feeling of urgency she felt when she woke up that morning, rushing to fix herself up and get ready for the day (even choosing to sacrifice her morning pretzel stop) in order to make the earlier commute and avoid having to share a small space (like the subway or that damn elevator) with a certain man and his gigantic ego. If she planned accordingly, she could make it through a majority of the day without having to cross paths with at least one dark-haired, arrogant grump and any interaction that they did have to have would be carried out with frosty professionalism. It was doable, and by God, she would succeed in it.

Because Mindy Lahiri was determined to have a great day, even if she thought that Daniel Castellano was an unbelievable dick.

Sure, she couldn't remember what exactly started the fight, but it lead to a disagreement over how to approach a shared patient's birth (Mindy believed that Mrs. Hartell's body could sustain a VBAC while Danny deemed it "too risky"), which led to Mindy accusing Danny of being unwavering with his opinions, professional and otherwise, which ultimately led to Danny accusing Mindy of allowing her "habitual personal recklessness" to filter into her professional life, thereby making her somewhat of a reckless doctor.

It stung. Granted, she was used to being underestimated – thrived off of it, even – but this particular time really hurt in a way that it hadn't before, mainly due to the source. If it had been anyone else she would have just leapt at the next opportunity to prove them wrong, but coming from Danny…

_No_, she chided herself internally, perking up her posture and returning to her file with a smile. _We're not gonna do that. Best day ever._

A few minutes later there was a timid knock at the door. Engrossed in what she was doing, she beckoned the visitor to coming in without bothering to look up. When she did, all she saw was his head poking through the partially opened entrance.

"Hey," Danny greeted gently. He had an apprehensive expression on his face, like he was afraid to speak to loudly and reawaken their venomous argument.

Mindy inhaled and bit back her desire to kick him out after unleashing a string of really caustic insults. Instead, she smiled and greeted with a phony kindness, "Good morning, Dr. Castellano. How may I help you?"

He knew she was goading him. She only referred to him as "Dr. Castellano" when she was upset. _Frosty professionalism_, she thought with a smile. _It always works_.

"C'mon, Min, don't do that," he sighed, opening the door just a little wider to reveal his leather jacket-clad arm and the strap of his messenger bag, both indicators that he hadn't settled into his office yet.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, colleague."

Danny let out a small groan, but entered the office despite her resistance. As soon as he came into full view, she noticed that he was carrying a dome-shaped plastic container by its shiny silver handle. It confused her for a moment before she realized what it was.

"Danny, is that the cake caddy that I got you for Christmas two years ago?" she asked in amazement, momentarily dropping the frostiness.

"Uh, yeah," he confirmed as he looked at it briefly, then closed the door behind him before turning back at Mindy. "I'll get to that in a second. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. It was rude and really below the belt and, most importantly, it wasn't true at all. You're an amazing doctor and you're really passionate about the well-being of your patients, so I shouldn't have mistaken your differing opinion as a wrong one. Again, I'm really sorry."

Mindy had not expected him to apologize so soon. Actually, she prepared for this discord to last for another day, at least, based on past experience. Admittedly, she had forgotten to take into account how much he had grown within the confines of their friendship. The old Danny would have dragged this argument out for days.

"Thanks, Danny," she replied quietly as a small smile tugged at the right corner of her mouth. "I'll be honest, I was prepared for this to last a lot longer."

Danny gave a quick smirk, then looked down at his feet when he spoke. "Yeah, it might have but…I dunno, it seemed like your feelings were genuinely hurt yesterday. It's one thing if we're sparring back and forth and we're just being competitive or whatever, but…I'd never want to seriously hurt your feelings, Min. I hope you know that I really felt awful."

She wasn't sure if it was the soft nature of his voice or how he seemed somewhat vulnerable with his head down and the adorable cake caddy in his hand, but something about the image made her want to hug him close, even though she felt like wringing his neck moments ago. It spoke to the nature of their friendship: they could hate each other at times, but never truly, and never for long.

"Well, I forgive you," Mindy said with a sigh, closing her file and pushing it to the side. "Now, what is going on with that caddy? Given the long, torturous speech you gave me about how Danny Castellano would jump into a vat of acid before ever needing such a thing, I find this image to be a little rewarding."

Danny looked down at the plastic ware as if he had forgotten that he was carrying it. "Oh, yeah, like I said, I felt really bad last night and I want to do something to make it up to you. I remember you saying that you wanted to model your diet after Gwyneth Paltrow and I had no damn clue what that meant, so I looked it up and it looks like she's really into-"

"Gluten-free!" Mindy piped in excitedly. She cherished any opportunity to gossip about celebrities to Danny, considering his staunch resistance against it. This instance was extra special because he had been the one to initiate the conversation. This _was_ shaping up to be the best day after all.

"Right!" Danny affirmed. "So I thought I'd, uh, make you a friendship cake…a gluten-free one."

He walked over to the desk and set the caddy in the space once occupied by the patient file. Mindy looked pleasantly shocked. Not only did he make her a cake from scratch, he looked up pointless celebrity trivia in an effort to please her.

And it wasn't just any cake; it was a _friendship cake_.

"Daniel Castellano," Mindy said breathlessly. "You are certainly not a dick, but a prince. A brooding, but kind, prince."

"Uhh, thank you?" Danny replied, clearly confused.

Mindy lifted the lid of the caddy to find a plain chocolate circular cake. It looked rather dense and a little dry in certain places. She wasn't one to turn down chocolate cake, but she had to admit that it hadn't been the most appealing cake she'd encountered. Where was the frosting?

Still, she was determined to love it – if not for its taste, then its symbolism.

"Well, this looks…" Mindy trailed off, unable to lie, but also unable to say anything that would possibly eradicate the doe-eyed look of hope on Danny's face. She gave him a polite smile, then opened a drawer in her desk that housed a wrapped set of plastic cutlery.

"This is exciting," she gushed as she tore away the plastic wrap from the fork. Once free, she instantly stabbed the fork into the cake. Mindy found it very difficult to pierce it, its density far too thick. Putting a little more force into it, she wiggled the utensil vigorously, which only caused the cake to give way a minute fraction.

Finding the struggle with the fork to be far too much, she left it standing upright in the dessert and opted to pinch away a tiny bit with her fingers. It was still a tough task, but she had more success using this method and popped the morsel into her mouth.

She instantly spit it out into the nearest tiny trash bin.

"Oh, God, Danny, that is terrible!" she cried as she spat as much of the taste as she could.

"Yeah, I thought it might," Danny admitted almost nonchalantly. "It didn't look too hot when I was making it. The recipe called for vinegar! That's a little weird."

"So despite all that, you still gave it to me?! In the name of friendship, even?!"

"I thought you might've had a better idea of what you were getting into!" he replied defensively, one hand on his hip while the other gesticulated wildly towards the cake. "You're the one who wanted to try this gluten-free crap!"

Mindy search until she found a napkin to wipe her tongue with. "I didn't actually mean that I was going to do it! It's just one of those things you say you're going to try to seem like a better-rounded person, like yoga or art house film festivals."

"How would I _ever_ know that?" Danny asked almost helplessly.

Mindy tossed the used napkin away and replaced the lid on the cake. "I'm sorry, Danny, I cannot accept this and allow you to desecrate the sanctity of the Friendship Cake." She came around her desk and handed the caddy back to its owner. "I appreciate your effort, but I just…no. It's terrible."

"Well, now I feel even worse than I did last night!" Danny took the cake back and readjusted the strap of his bag. "C'mon, I want to make it up to you. What do I need to do?"

Mindy tilted her head in thought, then smiled at the dawn of an idea. "You, sir, are going to come to my place tonight and help me make cupcakes. Friendship cupcakes."

Danny narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Is this like the time I 'helped' you make that lasagna?"

"I just needed help with the assembly!"

"The assembly is the entire process!" Danny exclaimed with an underlying hint of a chuckle. "And I had to brown the sausage, so I essentially made the entire thing."

Mindy smiled sweetly. "I boiled the noodles, though."

Danny returned her smile with a kind one of his own. "Yeah, you did do that much. You did a hell of a job with those noodles, Min."

They smiled at each other comfortably for a moment, their eyes locked. Mindy was elated for their quick return to normalcy. Fighting with Danny these days was always a little torturous. She always missed their banter and that certain sweetness that he seemed to reserve just for her. Something inside her made her want to tell him as much. Maybe she would tell him when he came over.

Danny cleared his throat then looked down at his shoes for a brief moment. "So, yeah, we can head to your place together after work. And let's get this straight now: I'm not wearing that lacy apron."

"But it looks so good on you, Danny!" Mindy joked.

"Everything looks good on me," Danny retorted with a slick smile.

"Ugh," Mindy groaned as she rolled her eyes, which made Danny snicker. She pushed him lightly towards the door. "Okay, get out of here. I've got work to do."

Danny complied and turned towards the door. Once he put his hand on the knob, he turned around and added, "Oh, and if you're not doing anything for lunch, we should get together and go over Mrs. Hartell's file. I still think a VBAC might be dangerous, but maybe there's something I'm missing. I'd like to hear your side of things."

She rewarded him with a small grin. "Lunch'll be fine."

Danny gave her one last half-smile before exiting the office. Mindy sighed contentedly. Today was already an amazing day…a day full of friendship cakes, redemption, and with a little persistence, Danny Castellano in a lacy apron.

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed my submission for the Dandy fluff challenge, Operation Tonic Water. This is an open challenge for anyone who is interested in contributing a fluffy one-shot to the collection between now and May 6th. For more details, please message myself or alittlenutjob.**

**Thank you so much for reading! Please read a review if you can. I always appreciate hearing from you all! **

**Have a great night and Hollaatchyagirl,**

**Phunky**


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